The present invention relates in general to storage bins in automotive consoles with pivotable lids, and, more specifically, to a mechanism for locking down the lid during an acceleration event such as a crash.
Many automotive vehicles utilize storage bins in a console or other areas of a vehicle interior. A pivotable lid typically covers the storage compartment and may double as an armrest. To meet safety concerns and various regulatory requirements, it is necessary for the door to stay closed during a crash so that any stored contents do not become projectiles moving within the vehicle interior. Crash retention of the lid in a closed position has been achieved by using a manually operated lever or push button to operate a latch whenever it is desired to open the lid wherein the closed latch is made to withstand the crash forces. However, for styling and convenience purposes it may be desirable to eliminate such a manually operated push button or lever. Thus, console systems are known that use an automatic locking of the lid based on sensing of high accelerations during a crash event.
When an automatic means is used for locking the lid during a crash event, a separate latching function is still desirable in order to clamp the lid closed during non-crash events because of lid flutter or rattles that could occur during normal vehicle operation. Thus, the lid requires a soft locking feature providing easy user access during normal operation as well as a hard locking function during a crash event to maintain the lid in a closed position. Preferably, the soft locking function can be obtained without requiring a manually operated button or latch.